Image is a placeholder. Figured I'd draw Flynt in a slightly more casual design. I used one of my previous pics as a base, which is why the legs look so terrible.

Anyway, here's part 2. Enjoy!

Characters © me

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The harbor didn’t look as intimidating now that it was bathed in the sunlight. And much livelier, too—Amanda could hear the laughter of children amongst the more prominent adult voices. She also noticed that all the people here were canine…primarily wolves, with coyotes, Malamutes, and German shepherds mixed in. Oddly enough, she didn’t see any Huskies about…

Huskies. She immediately thought of that woman that had shown up at the cabin a short while ago. What a witch, she thought to herself, scowling. The thing that perplexed her the most was when Flynt had stopped her when Laura had slapped him. Why would he have done that? She asked the wolf walking beside her, and he nervously scratched at the back of his neck.

“Ah…Ollie, why don’t you go over to Johnny’s and find us a table?” Flynt asked the Border collie, who immediately turned his head, looking at him with concern.

“Is somethin’ wrong?” he asked.

“No…no, nothing’s wrong. Just go on ahead…please,” Flynt replied, mussing the fur on the collie’s head. Oliver hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and trotted ahead. Then the wolf slowed his pace slightly and lowered his voice. “Amanda…I can’t have my men finding out about…us,” he explained. “Not now, at least. Not when we’ve just accepted this mission.”

Amanda looked puzzled. “Why? What’s wrong with being with me?” she asked.

“It’s not you, it’s just…” Flynt sighed, trying to put the words together. “I’m afraid that if they found out so soon, they’d suspect that the only reason I took your request was because I was in a relationship with you, and I did it simply to make you happy. That doesn’t exactly look admirable on a guild leader…and I’m already crossing the line a fair bit by being in a relationship with a client.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she argued, putting her hands on her hips.

“That’s life, sweetheart,” Flynt countered with a helpless shrug. “I made a lot of sacrifices when I founded the guild—this is but one of them. Now come along, we really shouldn’t keep Ollie waiting.”

Amanda sighed—still feeling that the answer she’d been given was incomplete—and followed him in the direction the collie had headed. “You and Oliver…what’s the story there?” she asked from behind him.

“That’s a story for another time,” Flynt said vaguely, without turning.

“…He seems really fond of you.”

“Indeed—and I of him. He sees me as a sort of role model, I think.” He grinned over his shoulder at her. “Scary thought, huh?”

Amanda giggled at that. Oliver really seemed to look up to him…but she sensed something else there, something deeper than simple mentorship. What exactly made the wolf and the collie so close, and why wouldn’t Flynt tell her?

As affectionate and kind as the man seemed to be, he certainly wasn’t without his secrets.

Oliver waved them over happily as they walked into Johnny’s. It was a simple and friendly establishment that smelled strongly of grilled hamburgers despite being so close to the sea. Flynt took a seat beside the Border collie; Amanda stared at him, looking almost hurt, but shrugged and sat across from them.

“Flynt and I hang out here all the time,” Oliver explained. “It’s a great place to chat and meet all kinds of people. And the burgers are top-notch—you won’t find food like this with those stuck-up folks in the higher districts.”

“Oliver, please,” Flynt stopped him, to Amanda’s surprise not using the young man’s nickname. “That’s enough.”

A waiter came to their table at that point, a gentle-faced Husky. Flynt ordered three sweet teas and three cheeseburgers, and with that the man left. A few moments later he returned with their drinks; the glasses appeared to have little cubes floating in them that Amanda had never seen before. She warily swirled the brownish liquid, but then she realized how incredibly parched she was, and she downed more than half the glass before setting it down.

Both men stared at her with wide eyes. She blushed, embarrassed, and Flynt chuckled. That was one thing he noticed when she was around: he almost never smiled, and he certainly never laughed before she’d showed up. She made him…feel. That was the only way he knew to describe it. He’d been with other women before, even slept with them; he received affection and gave it in return. But none of them made him truly feel—none of them managed to spark that fire within him like Amanda did, and it was frustrating that he didn’t know how to explain it. He had grown so numb to emotions over the past 17 years of his life, and experiencing them now was like…learning to walk, all over again.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the smell of a fresh burger as it was placed before him in all its greasy, steaming glory.

“Well, this is healthy,” Oliver remarked sarcastically. Flynt gave a slight grin, and Amanda laughed.

Flynt took a massive bite out of his burger. He hadn’t had breakfast this morning, and he was starving; he could tell that Oliver was also hungry, for he was viciously attacking his own burger as though he thought someone might come over and take it from him. Someone did come over to their table at that moment, but no tot take Oliver’s burger; he was a very well-dressed and handsome sheltie with well-groomed tricolor fur. Flynt wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked up to address the man, but his attention seemed to be focused on Amanda.

“Good day to you, my fine lady,” the sheltie greeted with a graceful bow. “I trust you’re enjoying the food as much I’m enjoying looking at you?”

The three sitting at the table all had mixed reactions. Flynt’s shoulders tensed; Amanda seemed to nearly choke on her burger; and Oliver broke out laughing and snickering.

“Please, do tell what it is that you find so amusing,” the sheltie demanded, glaring at the border collie.

“I’m s-sorry…th-that’s just one’a the cheesiest lines I’ve ever heard!” Oliver managed to say before bursting out laughing again. Then he imitated the man’s voice and accent: “And tell me, good sir, exactly what manner of buffoon would fall for such words, save a shallow corner prostitute?” Flynt kicked him under the table and glared at him, but he ignored it, clutching his side and laughing even harder. Even Amanda joined in, adding to the sheltie’s mounting embarrassment.

“Yes, well…you do seem to have quite the, ah…wit…but such insults are really not necessary,” the sheltie went on, trying desperately to contain himself. He did have a respectable amount of self-control. He turned to Amanda again. “I would prefer to get to know you better under more…suitable conditions…”

“By which you mean you’re going to make a hasty retreat to preserve what little dignity you have left,” Flynt interjected, stone-faced. “And as for the lady, she won’t be going anywhere with the likes of you, Nicholas.”

The sheltie was clearly losing control now. “Must you insult me, too?! Is it so wrong for me to wish to start up a conversation with the lady?”

“Of course not—just not with her.”

The sheltie stepped toward him, his anger rising. “What control do you think you have over m—“

Flynt suddenly pulled his revolver and aimed it at the man from underneath the table, the sound of the gun’s hammer cocking back silencing him. “One step closer and I’ll blow your kneecaps off,” he warned in a low tone. “The lady wants nothing to do with you. Got it?”

“A-alright, I understand…"

“I am so glad we could come to an agreement. Now, bug off…and act like this never happened.” Flynt released the man and holstered his gun, and the defeated sheltie turned and hurried off.

Amanda took another sip of her tea. “Well, that was…interesting,” she said, trying to lighten the mood of the situation.

Flynt straightened his collar. “My apologies. I can’t stand men like Nicholas,” he replied with a look of disgust. “Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m hungry anymore.”

“It’s folks like that, Miss Amanda,” Oliver warned with a smirk, “that like to try an’ sweet talk ya into bed with ‘em.”

“Ollie! Mind your mouth!” Flynt snapped. “You and I are going to have a talk later—you know better than to mock people like that.” His gaze softened when he saw the Border collie’s shoulders sag and his ears tip back. “I’m sorry, buddy, it’s just that…well, folks like Nicholas aren’t the kind of people you pick fights with. I know you like to make people laugh, and that’s a great way to be…but sometimes your mouth can get you in a lot of trouble.”

Amanda watched this whole conversation play out. Moments ago, this wolf was threatening to shoot a man’s kneecaps off, and now here he is putting one of those strong arms of his around the Border collie, a look of genuine concern on his face.

“…I’m just afraid that one of these times, I’m not going to be able to help you.” Flynt went on, squeezing Oliver’s shoulder.

So that was it, Amanda thought. That’s his fear. Through all the toughness and muscle, Flynt’s greatest fear was that he wouldn’t be able to protect those he cared for. However, Amanda was still left with questions: why, exactly, were he and Oliver so close? What exactly has happened in the wolf’s past?

Just how many secrets are locked up inside this man?